Members - CMPAS Group

Our Members

CMPAS works with eleven public power members in MN. The Agency is governed by our board comprised of a representative from each of the member’s cities.

About Our Member Cities

Blue Earth, MN

BLUE EARTH

Board Member: Tim Stoner

Blue Earth Light and Water (BELW) has achieved the Diamond Level of the Reliable Public Power Provider Program (RP3) ® designation from the American Public Power Association for demonstrating reliability, safety, workforce management, and system improvement. Blue Earth is one of 271 of the nation’s more than 2,000 public power utilities that hold a RP3 designation.

FAIRFAX

Board Member: Andrea Merkel

Founded at the intersection of Minnesota State Highways 4 and 19, Fairfax calls itself a “Little Big Town”. The city bustles as a transportation hub within Renville County, an agricultural center that produces more corn and soybeans than any other county in Minnesota. Residents and visitors alike enjoy the 8.1-mile hiking and biking trail that connects Fairfax with Historic Fort Ridgely State Park located along the Minnesota River Valley.

GLENCOE

Board Member: David Meyer

Glencoe has its eye on its future while also working to preserve its small-town community feel, as shown by the slogan, “Small City. Big Future.” The Glencoe Light and Power Utilities Commission has a long history of using available resources to position itself for the future and is proud to lead the state in purchasing reliable power from a local landfill gas generation plant.

GRANITE FALLS

Board Member: Crystal Johnson

Named for the granite and gneiss outcroppings over which the Minnesota River flows, Granite Falls is a great rural community with a strong and diverse economic landscape. The city’s location on the river allows it to generate electricity from a hydroelectric plant.

JANESVILLE

Board Member: Andrea Moen

Janesville is a community where friends are like family. Given the fact that the city is named after a local 19th-century settler, Mrs. Jane Sprague Janesville values relationships and works hard to meet the needs of its residents, including electric service through its public power utility established in 1939.

KASSON

Board Member: Tim Ibisch

Kasson’s 1895 86-foot ornamental water tower of gray limestone is on the National Register of Historic Places. Providing quality utility services, including electricity, has been ingrained into the community fabric since the city’s beginnings.

KENYON

Board Member: Randy Eggert

Home of the Boulevard of Roses and the historic Gunderson House, Kenyon is ideally nestled along the north fork of the Zumbro River 40 miles northwest of Rochester and only fifty miles south of downtown St. Paul. Its locale allows Kenyon to offer small-town charm in a family-friendly community, with a convenient, easy commute to suburban and metropolitan areas.

MOUNTAIN LAKE

Board Member: Michael Mueller

Mountain Lake’s tribute to its public power heritage is strongly apparent in the photos that line the walls as you walk through its power plant. In fact, in the late 1920’s when the citizens voted to form a public power utility, the area IOU contested the election and took the city to court. Ultimately, the Minnesota Supreme Court upheld the lower court opinion “that the election was hotly contested, but fairly conducted.

SLEEPY EYE

Board Member: Michael Hardin

Sleepy Eye citizens in the 1890’s were so concerned about keeping students comfortable for learning that they located the city’s first power plant in the basement of the new public school. Located in the middle of Minnesota’s productive farmland. State Highway 14, also known in Minnesota as the Laura Ingalls Wilder Historic Highway, goes through the center of Sleepy Eye.

SPRINGFIELD

Board Member: Scott Johnson

Springfield often refers to itself as “Minnesota Town on the Prairie” in keeping with the city’s mention on the “Little House on the Prairie” television show based on the famous Laura Ingalls Wilder’s books. The quality of life improved for the “Minnesota Town on the Prairie” when it built a power plant in 1894. At the time, only a few hundred-kilowatt hours of electricity were generated per day – mostly for lighting. Today, 125 years later, the city’s quality of life is phenomenal as Springfield Public Utilities reliably meets electric needs.

WINDOM

Board Member: Steve Nasby

You can “Come On Down” to Windom anytime, especially given that it is the birthplace of Johnny Olson, the original announcer on the Price is Right game show. Windom is the transportation hub for the region, Windom is served by U.S. Highway 71 and Minnesota Highway 60. The city’s public power utility electrifies a diverse economy including manufacturing, agriculture, medical and adult care facilities.